Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to food processing. More particularly, the invention concerns an apparatus and method for enhancing a solid food product with a supplement not ordinarily found in the food.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Out of the many foods that comprise the human diet, a few stand out as having nearly universal appeal. Perhaps foremost among these is the french fried potato, which is available virtually wherever prepared food is sold. Another widely popular food item is the bagel. This bread product is being increasingly consumed as people discover its tasty yet healthful non-fat properties.
With potatoes, bagels and other popular food items being consumed so avidly, it may be concluded that other foods which are necessary to a balanced diet are being neglected. Children are especially apt to prefer the starchy, nutrient deficient french fried potato over more nutritious foods, such as green vegetables. Adults may well favor bagels while tending to ignore other foods such as whole grain cereals, meats, eggs and dairy products.
It would be desirable if the mass consumer appeal of staple foods such as the potato or the bagel could be used as an avenue for delivering the nutrient value and vitamin content of other, less popular foods. It would be further desirable if the foregoing goal could be accomplished in a manner that tended to additionally enhance the popularity of the staple food. A related goal would be to use a popular food item as a mechanism for delivering vitamins or medicament to individuals who may be unwilling or unable to imbibe them by traditional means. To applicant""s knowledge, the foregoing goals remain unsatisfied in the art.
The foregoing problems are solved and an advance in the art is obtained by a novel method and combination for enhancing a solid food product with a supplement formulated to enhance the taste, color, nutritional value, vitamin content or medicinal properties of the food product. In a first embodiment, the food product, which could be a vegetable or a fruit, is processed from a native configuration into a plurality of individual consumable units at a first processing location. The consumable units are optionally heated at a second processing location as necessary to prepare the consumable units for consumption. The consumable units are then conveyed on a conveyor to a third processing location where the conveyor is situated below a spraying device containing a supplement in liquid form. Here, the consumable units are spray-coated with the supplement. In a second embodiment, the food product, which could be a vegetable, a fruit, or a bread product, is injected with a supplement following optional heating to soften the interior thereof to a consistency that permits supplement injection and disbursal therein. In a third embodiment, a food product, such as a vegetable or a fruit, is entrained with a liquid supplement by optionally heating the food product to a consistency that permits supplement entrainment therein, immersing the food product in the supplement and applying pressure. In each of the embodiments, the supplement can be a nutrient-containing vegetable extract, a nutrient-containing meat extract, a vitamin, a medicament, or any other suitable composition.